Wastewater inspires rush

Updated 8:07 pm, Monday, May 28, 2012

This is a Chesapeake Energy hydraulic fracturing operation over the Eagle Ford shale formation near Carrizo Springs.

This is a Chesapeake Energy hydraulic fracturing operation over the Eagle Ford shale formation near Carrizo Springs.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT/jdavenport@express-news.net

Image 2 of 2

Waste water trucks used by Pinnergy, Ltd. are lined up on recently developed commercial land near Pleasanton, Texas Wednesday May 9, 2012. Frio County commissioners are taking a stand against disposal wells being located in their county. John Davenport/San Antonio Express-News less

Waste water trucks used by Pinnergy, Ltd. are lined up on recently developed commercial land near Pleasanton, Texas Wednesday May 9, 2012. Frio County commissioners are taking a stand against disposal wells ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Wastewater inspires rush

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — The oil and gas drilling boom that has sent thousands of workers and rigs into North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Arkansas and Texas now is spurring another gold rush, as companies jockey to clean up the briny, metal-laden water that pours out of wells nationwide.

The potential prize is huge because the hydraulic fracturing process that is key to unlocking new oil and natural gas reserves involves blasting millions of gallons of water, along with sand and chemicals, deep underground to break up dense rock formations and to unlock the hydrocarbons trapped inside.

Mounting concerns about the high water demands of fracturing in arid regions and the risks of earthquakes tied to underground injection wells used to dispose of wastewater from the work are driving energy producers to reuse more of the fluids.

This has prompted a dash among recycling companies to gain ground in the new market. They're pushing various technologies for removing contaminants from water before it is pumped into the ground at wells and for cleaning it up after the jobs are done.

About a third of the water used in fracturing emerges as flowback before a well starts producing, and more comes later from the formation itself as what the industry calls “produced water.” Although smaller in quantity, it tends to be dirtier than flowback.

Most Popular

“This is a billion-dollar game of musical chairs,” said Todd Asmuth, CEO of Madison, Wis.-based AquaMost, one of the companies pioneering technology for stripping contaminants out of water that emerges from fractured wells. “There's a lot of players out there with technology solutions, and the producers want to have a couple solutions in hand. But the music is still going on. At some point, the music is going to stop and there's going to be a lot fewer players out there, and it's a question of who is linked up with the right producers and what the regulatory changes are.”

Brent Giles, a senior analyst with Lux Research who has studied the exploding market for treating fracturing water, says it has been “inspired as much by headlines as gas industry needs.” He predicts “a feeding frenzy that will leave plenty of casualties.”

Change in direction

The push for water recycling marks a change for many oil and gas producers. They historically have disposed of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing by trucking it to treatment facilities or injecting it into deep storage wells.

Both practices have come under fire.

The Environmental Protection Agency is writing standards for drilling wastewater disposal amid concerns that some treatment plants can't strip out pollutants such as naturally occurring radium, bromide and other toxic or radioactive substances before releasing the water into rivers.

And, federal scientists have determined that a rise in mostly small earthquakes nationwide might be tied to the disposal of drilling wastewater through deep-well injection.

Energy producers say recycling water makes sense — especially for drilling in arid regions such as the Eagle Ford formation and Utah. By reusing water in multiple wells, oil and gas producers don't have to pull fresh water out of the drinking supply.

Houston-based Newfield Exploration Co. has hired two companies to treat wastewater from its hydraulic fracturing operations.

One of the firms, Stuart, Fla.-based EcoSphere Technologies, is using electrochemistry to destroy microorganisms in the water at Newfield's wells. EcoSphere uses mobile equipment to create ozone by passing oxygen across an electric field; the resulting ozone then is converted into hydroxyl radicals that decompose contaminants.

Electrical approach

Newfield's other contractor, Environmentally Clean Systems, a joint venture of Dickinson-based MPR Services and Salt Lake City-based Jet Oil Solutions, uses its plant in Utah to treat water from Newfield's wells in the Uinta Basin. The Environmentally Clean Systems process, known as electrocoagulation, involves passing water through tanks containing electrified plates to form ions that attach themselves to contaminants, making larger bundles that can be screened out.

In many areas, treating and recycling fracturing water makes economic and environmental sense, said Lloyd Hetrick, Newfield's technical adviser on water.

Other pressures

Environmental concerns and political pressure also are driving demand.

“If you can find a solution where you can save money off a current process and know you're likely to be in compliance with future environmental regulations, that provides you with a sense of one less risk in your business,” AquaMost's Asmuth said.

Recycling also combats concerns about scarce water.

“Most operators realize there's a long-term issue to address, which is how are they going to source water for their fracs long term,” said Robbie Cathey, president of EcoSphere Energy Services.
jennifer.dlouhy@chron.com